Bridge
by Thepopcornpup
Summary: "Davey wasn't sure what to expect when he heard a tap on his window at 10:30 at night.But, Davey's question was answered with only more confusion as he crouched in front of the window and saw Jack and Crutchie sitting on the fire escape, the former holding a kitten in his arms. 'Jack...why'" (One-Shot)
**Author's Note: Greetings and salutations! Thanks for clicking on this!**

 **So, this story just popped into my head a few hours ago, and I decided that I just had to write it. It's also kind of an apology to the two people I owe prompted stories to, since they probably won't be published for at least another week. I've got a show coming up and finals, so this week is pretty, pretty hectic!**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy this quickly-written one-shot! Thank you for reading, and if you liked it, reviews make me very happy! ;)**

* * *

Davey wasn't sure what to expect when he heard a tap on his window at 10:30 at night. Burglars? Murderers? Jack? He decided it was most likely the latter, but he was still uneasy at the noise.

A whispered shout of "Davey! Get over here, Mouth!" confirmed his suspicions, followed by some clattering noises and what Davey could have sworn was a "meow."

"Shut up!" Davey whisper-shouted back as he creeped towards the window. "Sarah and Les are sleeping! What are you doing here?"

But, Davey's question was answered with only more confusion as he crouched in front of the window and saw Jack and Crutchie sitting on the fire escape, the former holding a kitten in his arms.

"Jack...why?" Was all Davey said as his eyes fell upon the small animal cradled in Jack's arms.

"Kind of a long story," Jack said. "Can we come in?"

Davey sighed and opened the fire escape. "Take it," Jack ordered, shoving the kitten towards Davey before helping Crutchie climb in the window. "And, be careful, he's sleepin'."

Flustered, Davey took the tiny, gray cat and scurried towards his bed. Jack and Crutchie sat next to him on his bed and let an awkward silence fill the air.

"So...are you going to explain the cat, then?" Davey asked after a while. "Or, are you just going to show up at my house at 10:30 p.m. with a kitten for no reason?" He paused before adding, "Though, you know, the fact that you're here at 10:30 isn't all that surprising. It's that cat that's confused me."

"Right then," Jack sighed. "Dave, we need ya to keep this cat."

"Wait, what?" Davey shook his head. "You need me to what?"

"His name is Bridge," Crutchie chimed in. "Or, that's what Spot told us anyway." Scratching the cat's ear, he added, "He's a sweet little fella."

Davey glanced from Jack to Crutchie in thourough confusion. "Alright, but...why?"

"Well, uh,it started with Spot a few hours ago," Jack schrunched up his nose in thought. "Or, I guess it was a few days ago, really, but we wasn't involved 'til today."

* * *

 _"Jackie-boy! Open the freakin' door, or this demon is gonna claw my damn face off!"_

 _This was the shout that Jack was greeted with at 9:00 as he'd just finished getting ready for bed. With a sigh, Jack swing open the door to see the King of Brooklyn standing in the doorway with a very scratched-up face, holding a squirming gray kitten in his arms._

 _"I'd hardly call this a demon," Jack chuckled, motioning towards the cat._

 _"Oh, it's pure evil," Spot replied. Then, shoving the cat I to Jack's arms, he added, "And, it's your problem now."_

 _With that, he turned away, ready to leave, but Jack grabbed Spot's arm with his cat-free hand and exclaimed, "Where do ya think you're goin'? You don't just give someone a cat and walk off!"_

 _"I can do whatever I want," Spot scoffed._

 _"Wait, a cat?" Romeo ran up to them, with Specs and Race trailing behind him. He caught sight of the animal in Jack's arms and cried, "It is a cat! Fellas, it's a cat!"_

 _Soon, almost the entire Manhattan borough had gathered around Jack and Spot, shoving each other to get a look at the cat._

 _"Okay, okay, but where'd it come from?" Jack asked finally, raising his voice over the excited shouts about the cat. "Care to explain?"_

 _"Not really," Spot answered bluntly._

 _"Wait, so, it's your cat?" Race asked, smirking. "Since when was you an animal-lover?"_

 _"I ain't!" Spot answered, squeezing his way through the crowd by the doorway and plopping himself down on the nearest bunk. "And, it ain't my cat. It's yours now. I just found it."_

 _"How?" Race questioned with an amused look on his face, sitting himself next to Spot._

 _"And why is it ours?" Jack asked annoyedly, unable to keep the cat still in his arms._

 _"'Cause I ain't puttin' up with the monster anymore," Spot answered firmly. "He's just as annoyin' as you guys, so it makes sense that you'd have him."_

 _The crowd had gathered around Spot, with every boy having shoved himself somewhere on the tiny cot._

 _"Gimme some space!" Jack grumbled. "You'se gonna crush the cat!" As if on cue, the cat yowled and clawed Jack's face. "Ouch! What the-Spot! This is your fault!" Jack exclaimed, putting a hand over his now-bleeding cheek._

 _Aside from Jack and Spot, all the boys were rolling with laughter. Race was almost in tears. Through the giggles, he said, "Explain yourself, Conlon."_

 _Spot rolled his eyes and began, "Okay, so, a couple days ago, I was finishin' up my sales, an' I heard this meowin' noise comin' from nowheres. So, I followed it an' I found this guy in an alley. He was all alone, and, I don't know," A blush had made its way on Spot's face now. "He just, uh, looked like he hadn't eaten or whatever, and sounded like he was in pain or somethin', and I didn't see any other cats around so, uh, I just took him with me."_

 _"Oh, would ya look at that?" Race chuckled. "I think Spot's tryin' to tell us he's got a heart, fellas!"_

 _"Shut up," Spot snapped as Race elbowed him in the ribs. "Anyway, I took him to the Lodgin' House with me and I gave him some water. I didn't really know what to do with him after that, so I just kinda kept him in my bunk and told my boys not to bother him. But, Bridge got real annoyin'-"_

 _"Woah, woah, woah, wait." Race held up a hand, his smirk growing wider. "Did you say 'Bridge?' Who's Bridge?"_

 _Spot looked at Race with a steely glare, but his cheeks were tomato red. "The cat's name is Bridge." He spat._

 _"He don't have a tag that says Bridge," Jack observed, glanccng at where a collar would be on the squirming bundle in his arms._

 _Moving his glare towards Jack, Spot reluctantly added, "I named him."_

 _Race eruptd back into laughter. "Don't tell me!" He whooped. "You named him after the Brooklyn Bridge, huh?!"_

 _Spot neither confirmed nor denied this. Instead, he opted to continue his story with, "Like I was sayin', he got real annoyin'. Wouldn't stop scratchin' me and kept climbin' all over me while I slept. Besides, I couldn't keep a cat in the Lodgin' House, so..." He trailed off._

 _"Well, Spot, if you couldn't keep a cat in you Lodgin' House, what makes you think we can keep one in ours?" Jack questioned, oblivious to how carefully he was cradling the cat now._

 _"Dunno," Spot shrugged. "That's your problem." Standing up, he said, "I'm gonna hit the road. Have fun dealin' with the demon cat." He almost walked out the door, but before he left, he added with an uncharacteristic timidness, "By the way, he, uh, he likes whole milk better than any other kind. And, uh, he likes bein' scratched behind his left ear. Not that he don't like bein' scratched behind his right ear, but he only purrs when you scratch his left one." With that, he left the Manhattan Newsies with nothing more than a cat named Bridge and brief advice on how to care for it._

 _"Seems like he likes ya, Jack," Crutchie pointed out after a moment of confused silence._

 _Jack looked at the kitten that had stopped squirming and had fallen into a comfortable sleep in his arms. "Yeah, I guess so," He smirked._

 _"So, can we keep him?" Romeo asked excitedly. The other boys chimed in with "yeah!"s and "please!"s._

 _Jack, not taking his eyes off of Bridge, answered with a tone of slight sadness, "That's up to Kloppman, fellas. Besides, maybe a Lodgin' House ain't the best place for a guy like this."_

* * *

"And, that's why we're here," Jack concluded. "We thought, 'hey, Dave's got a house and family to care for him and...stuff.' So, please?"

Davey looked at the cat in his lap. "I-I don't know what to say. I mean, I think it's up to my parents."

"Jack? Crutchie?"

The three looked to see Les standing in Davey's doorway, running his eyes sleepily. Sarah stepped up behind him, followed by their parents. "What are you guys doing here?" Sarah asked, sounding as tired as Les looked.

Crutchie and Jack jumped up. "Sorry to wake ya guys!" Crutchie said sheepishly. "But, hey, we brought ya a-"

"CAT!" Les suddenly perked up upon noticing Bridge. He ran up to Davey, turned his head towards his parents and asked, "Can we keep him? Can we keep him? Please? Please? Please?"

Before either could answer, Sarah had joined her brothers and chimed in with, "I'll let him sleep in my bed!"

"I'd like to keep him, too," Davey admitted with a grin.

Mrs. Jacobs looked at her husband helplessly. They seemed to have a wordless conversation before she said, "I-I guess, for tonight. But, this isn't forever yet."

"Yes!" Les cheered.

"Well, our work here is done," Jack grinned. "C'mon, Crutch, let's head out."

"It's getting late, boys," Mrs. Jacobs said. "You could stay here tonight, if you don't mind having one of sleeping on the sofa and one in the armchair."

"That'd be great," Crutchie smiled tiredly.

Both guests thanked the Jacobs, and before heading out to the living room, Jack looked over his shoulder and said, "Hey, Dave? Take good care of Bridge, bud."


End file.
